


Crash AU

by Stitchyego



Category: DRAMAtical Murder (Visual Novel), DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-26
Updated: 2016-07-26
Packaged: 2018-07-26 21:02:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7590241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stitchyego/pseuds/Stitchyego
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A drive along the quiet country road that leads from Mink's cabin into town takes a dangerous turn. Within a fraction of a second to make a decision, Mink holds the fate of he and who he loves dearly in his hands. The only question that remains is, how much can one decision cost a man?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crash AU

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lintmaster1989](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lintmaster1989/gifts).



> Back when the 'Dear Aoba' week was running on tumblr, my lovely friend lintmaster1989 and I had a rather grim idea. So, while we blasted 'Last Kiss' by Pearl Jam, we discussed how awful it would be to have a ship to such a pain enduing song. None the less, the concept of Crash AU was born and, being the glutton for angst that I am, I delivered to her what she regretted discussing.

_Dear Aoba._

_Imagine a world where we’d never grow old, a world where everything is bliss in our being and ill fortune could not touch us.  
The sun would rise and fall for us and us alone. So long as I held you close nothing else mattered but the rhythm of your heartbeat next to mine._

_Imagine a world, where we’d never have to say goodbye._

            “I’m telling you, it’s going to rain any moment now” Aoba pestered as his arms tightened around Mink’s middle; his fingers latched around the belt loops of his pants as if those little handles made a difference in keeping him on the bike. “It’s fine” was the simple reply given back to him, Mink’s voice fighting the howl of the wind as they fought the resistance. “... And if it did, it’s not like a little water ever hurt anyone” he added, looking over his shoulder for a split second before turning his attention back to the lone country road which lead back into town.  
           The addition brought a quick grin to Aoba’s lips as he tipped his head to look upward, letting his chin rest upon the coats lining.      “’ _And if’_ huh? I dunno. That sort of sounds like someone’s covering their ass instead of just saying ‘Oops I was wrong’” he probed, quickly feeling a grumbling sounds reverberate from his brutes chest, indicating he had very much hit the nail on the head with that accusation.

            “Keep it up, and I’ll cover your mouth Aoba” Mink managed back, feigning annoyance – though without having to see his face, Aoba knew there was a sly side smile curving on his lips.

            “Are you trying to flirt Mink?” Aoba snorted.

            “No, I’m threatening you with good time." Casual banter in jest was something so precious; it was hard to really describe the importance unless you once knew the sensation it stirred. It was an odd way to say ‘I love you’ but then again, compassion came in many different forms.  
            The trees continued to whip by as the bike sped along the uneven road. Though the floras height remained consistent to eyeshot, there was no denying the growing embankment. The further the bike climbed, the greater the drop from the road became. The sunset kissed the horizon in a last ditch effort to provide some warming light to the evening before the impending rain came. The open air, the colour of dusk the familiar rev of the bike and the tightening of slender arms around his waist all brought Mink to a realm of peace.

            It was a beautiful slip of concentration, a blissful distraction that last but a second, but a second was a dangerously long time for joy to turn to disaster.

            “Mink!” Aoba’s cry echoed loud in his skull as his eyes fixated on the car that had come flying around the corner, drifting onto the wrong side of the road with zero regard for the unbroken white line.

            _“Fuck!”_

            Gripping tighter to the padding on the handles, Mink’s fingers automatically latched forward onto the break lever. The sudden decline in speed caused the bikes tires to give an almost foreboding scream as they swerved to the right. The weight of the bike shifted in balance as the control slipped from Mink’s fingers. For one moment they were skidding along the broken tar road, the next the bike had rolled and forced them apart and airborne. It was here, defying gravity that time seemed to pause for a moment, or so it felt like it did. Before the two could hit the ground in a rude reintroduction, Mink’s eyes caught a quick glance of Aoba’s eyes as they rolled back over to face him in the air. His pupils had constricted, the fear shone far too clearly through his expression as he looked back at him. Hopelessly.  
            With desperation claiming his heart Mink flung out his arm, his hand reaching out frantically to grab a hold of him and pull him in. He would hold his body close and allow his frame shield him from the impact.

            But his fingers fell inches short and they coiled around the empty air.     

            “ _Aoba-!”_

_“Mink I-!”_

            The ending words became a mystery as Mink felt his mass succumb to gravity, the impact punched at his organs and his bones felt as though with each tumble, they were being snapped out of place. Rolling felt like an eternal trap, like the bottom of the embankment was nowhere in sight and he was locked in the motion.  Gravel tore at the exposed sections of his arms and loose sticks snared his flesh to rip it open. The last thing he remembered was the sight of a large jarring stone jutting out from the earth before it broke his momentum by cracking against his skull.

*

            The iron scent of blood mixed with gasoline is an unwelcome cocktail to awaken to; the pungency flooded Mink’s nostrils as he slowly stirred to consciousness. The slits of his eyes cracked themselves open, flecks of gravel falling from his eyelids and re-establishing their relationship with the soil. He knew the ringing in his ears wasn’t natural, it deafened out any other sounds that may have been occurring... Everything was just so muted in comparison. Refusing to give in to his body’s request to stay parallel to the ground, Mink pushed himself up to a sit with shaking arms. The urgency in his needing to be upright certainly wasn’t a smart move as almost instantaneously, he was greeted with a wave of nausea. Though, instead of emptying out the content of his stomach he managed to sit there for a moment, his aching back pressed against the very stone that had claimed his consciousness.

            _What in the hell had even happened? They had been riding along, there was a car and then-_  
  
            They.  
  
_Aoba._

            With a new sense of urgency and irrefutable fear, Mink kicked his boots into the dislodged earth and stammered to his feet. The straightening of his torso brought on a stabbing sensation in his chest that spread like a firestorm throughout his body. Grunting through gritted teeth, he balled his hands into fists and dug his nails into his palms to combat the pain of the undoubtedly broken rib. Hunching himself over helped contest the throbbing of the piercing bone as he looked over the wreck of scrap metal and slices of rubber from the tires that littered the embankment. His eyes jumped from twisted shard to twisted shard as his gaze settled upon the final resting place of what was once his bike, and honestly he wasn’t sure if he or it had a worse outcome. The frame was bent and mangled from the collision of tree trunks; the gas tank split open and spilling fuel down the ridged frame. The front wheel long lost, leaving the fork tubes with nothing to attach to, sharp and lethally exposed.

            Rather, they should have been exposed.

            While one was left open to the air, another had found a replacement hold – lodged inside the frightened chest of someone he held too dear for this to be happening to _oh sweet Gods-_ “Aoba!”

            Pain itself is relative. There is no man so daft enough to question the anguish of a broken bone, but given the chance to choose, the thought of having every bone in his body snap at this moment would be far less painful than the image that was engraving itself in his memory.  The image of the love of his life, impaled mercilessly to the base of an old oak with the warped metal cylinder ripping through his chest, the whole weight of the motorcycle keeping it there.

            That, compared to a basic broken rib?  
            The question need not be proposed.

            “Aoba, I’m coming!” he called out to him upon an aching heart as he willed his body to move as fast as it possible could in its current condition. In a surprise he was truly grateful for, upon the name escaping him, Aoba steadily lifted his head; letting the crown fall back on the tree bark for support instead of relying on his neck.

            _He’s alive! Thank you Gods he’s alive!_

            “You-re... O-k...” came a breathy sigh for his safety as Mink approached the consequence of his decision to swerve.   

            _You, you idiot! You’re not meant to be worried about me in a time like this! When you’re... when you’re..._

Mink’s eyes cast down to the twisted fork tube that had forced its way into Aoba’s chest, the cylinder itself was at least three inches in diameter and had perfectly pitched into him like a gruesome cookie cutter. Dropping down to his knees to move in closer; he placed both his shaking palms to Aoba’s face and held his gaze. His eyes darted in search for any indication that he knew how bad their situation had become. Leave him sitting where he was and he... But if he moved the bike to free him, the tube would be pulled out and leave a three inch wide gap would which cut directly through his lung...                 
_What did he do? What had he done? What could he do now?_

“Min-k... He-y...” with a trembling arm extending, Aoba placed his torn up hand to Mink’s knee in attempts to comfort him. The silence had lingered too long for things to be ‘ok’. Nothing strengthened truth quite like silence.  
            He knew.       Of course he knew.

            “I-t hur-ts...” he choked, his eyes rolling back a little in trying to cope. “P-lea-se, please, you ne-ed to take it ou-t..”

            The request instantly caused the alarm bells to ring in Mink’s head, though before any verbal protest could be made by him, he was swiftly beaten to the proclamation.

            “... I know” Aoba muttered to him, his frail hand curling on his knee as he spoke soft words of a suicidal request.       “I know... B-ut pl-ease... I, I can’t do it my-self...” he beseeched. Even in such a deathly state, bathed in blood, sweat and soil... he was so beautiful when he smiled up at him.    “I wa-nt, I want to be hel-d... M-ink...”

            _Hold him; the heavens knew that was the only thing he wanted to do right now. He’d hold him so tight that it would take an army to remove him from his embrace. Though, if he did that..._

Unfortunately, the end of their story had already been written, the red stage drapes would close upon the same finale no matter what he chose. What he could alter, however, was how intimate this parting could be.  
            Before he lost his nerve, Mink rose to his throbbing feet and placed both blistering hands to the twisted bike frame. The inhale was excruciating, his chest only half expanding with his rib snapped and cutting his lung capacity– but if he was going to move the bike he needed to catch his breath. His fingers clutched to the metal and, before pushing it back and away, he turned to face Aoba.

            _Was he really doing the right thing?_

‘It’s ok’ his lips mouthed just before Mink pushed forward with his shoulders and forced the bike back up the embankment just enough for the fork tube to slide uneasily from Aoba’s chest. Once clear, he tilted the bike frame to the left, allowing it to roll forward at a slight angle and continue it uneven roll downwards.  
            As soon as the metal had been removed, the blood began to gush from his chest; he hadn’t been too bloody before, what with the tube acting as a plug. Now though, it burst from him like storm water pushing through an open flood gate. Refusing to allow any further blood loss, Mink slid back to his knees and forcefully pushed his fingers over the entry wound, applying as much pressure as he possible could... Even if it all was in a fools hope that this was something they could both walk away from.

            “Tha-nk you” Aoba gagged out, tears welling in the corners of his eyes as he experienced the raw pain of what it felt to be ripped open.

            “Thank you? What the _hell for? I did all of this!”_ Mink snapped back to him, baffled blind and unable to accept the calmness in his dearest’s uneven voice.  

            “You didn’t do th-is...” Aoba rejoindered, still delivering his broken words in a tone of accepting the inevitable.           “You did-n’t... An-d it’s.. it’s goi-ng to b-e ok... I’m no-t scared... S-o... You don’t h-ave to be either...”

            _He wasn’t scared? Well, that was good. Neither was he.  
__He was terrified._            

                   “Loving you, gives me courag-e...”

            “...Aoba” Mink whispered hoarsely as he pressed his forehead gently to his; the tips of their noses brushed lightly against one another, their lips hovering with the potential to kiss.            “... I don’t... I don’t know what to do...”

            “You need... to be strong now” Aoba muttered on a quick breath, his words gargling slightly as the blood slowly but surely pooled in his lungs. So, this was what drowning felt like?

            “Shut up, don’t say things like that” Mink hisses quickly as he pulled a once lively frame into his arms and supported his head with his palm. The body he held so dear felt limp in his hold, the muscles he cradled ebbed in their strength and any desire to remain alive. The gaping hole where the serrated metal once pegged closed continued to pump and spill his precious life force with each rise and fall of Aoba’s caving chest. Despite feeling his palm soaked in wasted blood, Mink continued to keep his hand in place; the crimson liquid soaking through his gloves and tainting the darkness of his skin.

            Aoba winced.  
            Mink’s heart ached.

            It didn’t matter how hard he pressed down on the wound, he knew logically it didn’t make a damn difference. Either Aoba would bleed out or he’d dry drown in a bloody sea. The kiss of death lingered sweetly above his love and he knew too well it was drawing closer to those lips. It was a sick reality, he almost didn’t believe it was real, but the problem with reality was that it would continue to exist whether you accept it or not.  
            _It couldn’t be real... Please don’t allow it to be real..._

            “How about we just... How about we just go home? Give tonight a miss?” he suggested ignorantly, trying so hard to pretend things were going to be ok.

            “M-Mink...”

            “We’ll... We’ll dim the lights and I’ll read to you until you fall asleep. I’ll pull the curtains so we can sleep in late... We’ll have a lazy Sunday and I’ll make you breakfast in bed... You’ll say something dumb... I’ll mock you a little... You’ll laugh back at me... And tell me I’m just being grumpy because I made myself worry too much about this moment right now...”           His voice, though quick paced, remained somewhat level.  
            “Mink...”         Phosphenes, as beautiful as they usually were, were now building at an alarming rate and blurring out Aoba’s vision. He could no longer make out the face of that he was looking up to. Though, like he had picked the smile before, he knew Mink’s eye would hold a quantity of panic. He could hide little from someone who had seen the very essence of him.         “I don’t think that that-“

            “Shut up for once, would you?!” Mink barked an interject before biting down hard on his lower lip. That had come out a little harsher than he had intended it; he had let fear grip his throat and let its voice be heard... That was, too selfish.            This wasn’t about him.  
            Lifting his bloodied hand that had since given up trying to hold the wound closed, he brushed the loose strands of blue hair from Aoba’s forehead. They clung to his pale skin, glued to his flesh in a mixture of a cold sweat and the blood smear from Mink’s aiding fingers.     “Please... Just don’t speak... Just look at me.”

            Weakly but determined; Aoba managed a heartfelt smile. In doing so, small delicate trails of crimson streamed down the right corner of his mouth. It didn’t hurt anymore. He just felt cold and disjointed; as though the body he was bound too was no longer quite the right fit and he was slowly being lifted away from the shell.There was little left in this world for him now, and that that remained couldn’t keep him pinned to it no matter how hard they tried. This was a cruel way to part from a lover, but fate wasn’t something that could be easily over turned.           They had reached the fork in the road, that which gave a permanent departure. For now, he was breathing on borrowed time and death was looming upon him like a storm cloud.

           “... I wan-t y-ou... to promise m-e somet-hing” Aoba said softly as his energy slowly flowed from his finger tips. As not to miss a single syllable uttered, Mink lifted Aoba’s limp form up higher and craned his neck downward; so close that he could feel the final puffs of warm breath leaving Aoba’s leisurely pooling lungs.  
            _Anything! Anything and everything! Whatever he wanted he’d die for him a thousand times over for whatever this was to come true!_

“What is it, Aoba?”

            “.... You need... To live for me...” 

_What?  
_ Mink’s brows furrowed and he found himself pulling away from Aoba just enough for him to look down on him. Though his soft eyes were looking in his direction, they didn’t look into him like they use to.       He was fading.           

           “Live... for me... None of this... is your fault...” Aoba repeated, ready to push the point until his untimely death.  
           “I want... I want you to live... for me. I want you... To be happy, I-” he cut his own sentence off with a hefty cough that erupted from his chest; blood hurled from its gathering and projecting out of his mouth. It splattered chaotically over the front of Mink’s shirt like a macabre art piece.   “You can cry for me... for... A week... Maybe even two... but... But af-ter that... I want you to smile... when you... think of me... Remember me... as I was... Yours... and move... forward... for me...”      he pushed the words out, established to have them spoken before he left this world.       Not for a long time, had Mink been as speechless as he was now.

            “Promise... Me...” Aoba coughed out as his head seemed to roll back on his neck, any support it was once giving had slipped away.

            “I...”     _Sweetest of Gods, what could he say to that?_

Every happy memory from what they were would now be shadowed in the coldness of ellipsism, how could he so easily say that he would move on with that? To further live a life with hollow days then return home to sleep in an empty bed?            How could he? He didn’t want to! He didn’t want to move on! What kind of heart doesn’t look back? He didn’t want time to heal him and make everything ‘ok’.  If anything, he wanted the passage of time to scar him, to disfigure his skin and knot his heart; to make him ugly. He didn’t want time to smooth over the scar Aoba would leave; he didn’t want him to be just a memory.  
_But he couldn’t say that._

“... I promise you...” Mink murmured his breathing reduced to a stutter. He wasn’t too sure this was a promise he was going to be able to keep. But he had to... Right? If anybody knew how important the use of words were and what they could hold, it was Aoba. The silence lingered loud for a moment before a soft chuckle was heard. It seemed so out of place, but somehow it felt warranted at the same time.

            “If I could feel my arms, I’d pull you down and kiss you” Aoba spoke, his breathing slowing as he forced his muscles to give one last smile before being claimed by the unknown abyss.            “... I told you... it would rain...” Aoba added softly, feeling the light warm collision of droplets break apart on his forehead.           “It’s... nice...”      

            But it wasn’t raining.

   
            With that, those familiar eyes that saw all his flaws and accepted him for who he was, those eyes who look upon him and loved him unconditionally, closed for the last time, never to open and shine their light again. The world stopped, or so it felt like it did. The silence grew so thick it became suffocating, until finally the choking came.  
            Clutching pathetically to the remains of what was once a man with such a presence in life, Mink allowed the levy to break and the rest of his bitter tears to fall. Flowing like raging rivers down the curve of his cheeks, the stream broke off into a waterfall of emotion, and came in crashing droplets upon a lifeless memory.

            “It’s... nice...” Mink repeated back, trying his hardest to hold onto a moment that had long passed him. The salt of the tears stained his lips and he felt them quiver; for this was a wound salt could not heal. Nor could distance nor time. There was a hole in his chest where his heart should be, for it had not been broken, but rather shattered into a million tiny pieces, far too small to pick up off the earth and glue back together.

 

_“Ao...ba... I’m... I’m so sorry...”_

 

 

_Dear Aoba..._

_Imagine a world in which we could grow old together, a world where even if ill fortune found us, we could brave through it hand in hand._  
The sun would fall and give way for the moon, and we’d watch the countless days pass us by.  
_And we were happy._

_Imagine a world, where I could say ‘Good morning, I love you’ one last time._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to those who read this all the way through and, yes, don't worry, I know quite well that I'm a bad person.  
> ╮(. ❛ ᴗ ❛.)╭


End file.
